Birthday Boy
by shingekinorivaille
Summary: When they finally stop walking, they've reached a small clearing in the forest. Trees surround them with small buds, leaves not having grown yet. The sunlight beats down on them, keeping them warm.


**Birthday Boy**

* * *

It was only on very rare occasions that there was enough coffee for everyone. Everyone was elated, especially Eren. Not only was a day where everyone could get their hands on coffee a good day, but it also happened to be his sixteenth birthday.

Eren was alone in the kitchen at the moment. He was still standing at the counter, taking his first careful sip of coffee. He glanced out the window. It was still somewhat chilly outside, as it was early spring. The snow had mostly melted, leaving everything a muddy mess (much to Rivaille's dismay).

He suddenly felt hands playing around with one of his belts and nearly drops his coffee.

"Mikasa, what the—?"

"It was loose," she replies, straightening up and turning her back to him, grabbing a mug. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," he says, watching her pour coffee into the mug.

"Do you know what time you have lunch today?" she asks, leaning against the counter and taking a sip of the coffee, her eyes not leaving his.

"Right at noon. Why?"

He swears he sees a flicker of a smile on her face. "No reason in particular. I want to do something special for you. Meet me here at the start of lunch."

* * *

Eren makes his way back from personal training with Rivaille. He's covered in mud and sweat. Training in general was no easy task, but Rivaille made it even tougher than it already was. Eren didn't mind this, of course. He'd gotten to work on particularly difficult maneuvers with his 3dmg. He hadn't done the best, hence all of the mud splattered on his clothing. At one point he'd even run into a tree and nearly broke his leg, at which Rivaille scoffed and told him to walk it off.

They didn't meet in the kitchen like Mikasa had said; instead she met him outside. She frowns and plucks a twig from his hair. "How did training go?" she asks.

Eren eyes the picnic basket as they begin walking. "Good enough. Where are we going?"

"Somewhere," she says, walking a step ahead of him.

When they finally stop walking, they've reached a small clearing in the forest. Trees surround them with small buds, leaves not having grown yet. The sunlight beats down on them, keeping them warm. He'd walked around the forest a few times by himself before, but he'd never come across this area. He might have during training at some point, but he never paid much attention to scenery.

Mikasa sits down in the grass, motioning for Eren to sit down as well. He does and she sets the picnic basket in front of them, opening it and pulling out a whole bunch of what appears to be freshly made goods. From two little containers of soup to warm chocolate chip cookies. She hands Eren one of the containers of soup and he notices that it's his favorite. "_Linsensuppe_!" He grins, digging right in.

The two eat in silence for a moment. "This tastes exactly like mom's," he says.

"She taught me how to make it."

"But where did you get all of the ingredients? Actually, when did you even have time?" With their busy schedules, it's not like they had a lot of time to spend for themselves, unless they stayed up past their curfews.

"I snuck into the kitchen after curfew."

"You didn't have to do that for me."

"It's for your birthday, so it's worth it. Besides, I didn't get caught."

He finishes off the soup, setting the container back in the basket. Mikasa gives him one of the cookies. After he takes a bite, he turns to her and says, "Did mom teach you how to make these too?"

"Yes."

They finish eating in a comfortable silence. Both of their lunch breaks are bound to be ending soon, but neither can bring themselves to move. It's been a while since they've gotten to see each other for more than a few moments.

"Thanks," Eren says eventually, moving to get up. He knows if he's late that Rivaille will have his head. Or maybe actually break his leg. Eren decides not to think about it.

Mikasa grabs his wrist, "Wait."

"What is it?"

"Um," she tugs at her scarf, something she only does when she's nervous.

"Mikasa—"

She looks down for a second and then pulls him closer, pressing her lips to his. It only lasts a second, but Eren's in shock.

"What?"

"Sorry," she looks away from him, her voice quiet, still playing with the scarf.

"No, no," he shakes his head, "don't be." He reaches out and grabs her chin gently, turning her head so they're looking at each other. Their eyes lock. "How long?" he whispers.

"Since you saved me," she whispers back.

And then they're _really_ kissing. It's somewhat sloppy, as neither of them really had experience when it came to kissing or even relationships beyond friendship in general.

When they pull away from each other, Eren's hand drops from her chin. "We should probably get back to training."

"Probably," Mikasa agrees. They both stand, she grabs the picnic basket, and they begin to head back to the castle.

"So," Eren says, his hand reaching for Mikasa's free hand, "What does this mean?"

Mikasa's quiet, her focus on their hands. "It could mean a lot of things."

He's grinning, "Let's start with this then." He stops walking, stepping in front of and turning to face her, "Mikasa, will you go out with me?"

She smiles up at him—_when had he gotten taller than her? She hadn't even noticed—_and nodded. "Yes, of course I'll go out with you, Eren."

They share another kiss, a little less sloppy than the first two times already.

The rest of Eren's day was him smiling, a site that no one was used to. Even when he did smile, it was usually insane and involved him yelling about titans. Mikasa smiling was an even rarer site, and from that point everyone's assumptions were definitely true that something had happened between the two teens.

* * *

**And in the distance you can hear a very upset Jean crying. Eventually Armin slaps and kisses him and there we go a jearmin make out thing yeah. I hope you guys liked this; it took me forever to write. Okay, so a few hours but you know. It turned out pretty much how I wanted it, so I'm happy with it to be honest.**


End file.
